Kay Tisdall

Professor Kay Tisdall is a Chair of Childhood Policy at the Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. She holds a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Edinburgh, an LLB from Strathclyde University, and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University. Her work focuses on children’s human rights, participation in decision-making, and methodologies for research and policy engagement with children and young people. She has led and contributed to numerous international projects, including the Observatory of Children's Human Rights Scotland and the ESRC-funded ‘CAFADA’ project on domestic abuse.

Key research areas include contested child contact in domestic abuse contexts, child activism against child marriage, and arts-based peacebuilding. She has held roles such as Member of the Expert Committee on Competency Framework for Child Participation (International Bureau for Children’s Rights) and member of UNICEF UK’s Child Rights Partners Advisory Group. Her teaching includes convening modules on Global Childhoods & Human Rights and Involving Children & Young People in Research. Current PhD supervision spans topics like children’s agency in sport and participatory approaches in child protection systems.